Chapter 31 Leave
Ava Reed
I should’ve stayed in bed.
I should’ve buried myself under my blanket and forced myself to sleep instead of creeping into the kitchen like a restless, stupid idiot.
Because now, I’m standing here, staring at him.
Liam stood, leaning against the kitchen counter, with a bowl of cereal in one hand and a spoon in the other, looking like he didn’t just wreck me hours ago. Like my body isn’t still humming from what we did.
He glances up, and smirks. Of course he smirks.
"Couldn’t sleep either, huh?" he says, with the kind of tone that reminds me exactly how that mouth sounded against my skin earlier.
“Guess not.” I reply, folding my arm.
I keep my feet planted because walking forward feels like stepping into a dangerous territory. Not when his sweatpants hang so damn low, and his abs flex with every stupid movement. Not when the kitchen light casts shadows over the sharp lines of his face, making him look even more annoyingly beautiful.
“Cereal?” he gestures with his spoon.
“Seriously?” I blink, snapping out of my thoughts
“I mean, it’s the best post-sex meal. Simple, satisfying.” He shrugs, putting a spoon bite into his mouth and licks the milk off his lips.
I hate him. Do I?
I exhale sharply and finally move, heading to the fridge for water. My fingers curl around the bottle, but when I turn, Liam’s watching me. Not in his usual cocky way. Something else. Something too much.
“What?” I raise an eyebrow.
He tilts his head, studying me. “You always this fidgety after sex?”
“Excuse me?” I almost choke on air.
“You.” He gestures at me with his spoon again. “You’re all…” He squints, searching for the word. “Squirmy.”
“I am not squirmy.”
“Liar.” His smirk deepens.
I grip my water bottle tighter. “Are you always this insufferable after sex?”
He hums like he’s considering it.
“Dunno. First time I actually care enough to notice.”
That shuts me up.
And judging by the way his eyes flicker over my face, he knows it.
Something tightens in my chest, and I hate it. Hate how easy it is for him to say shit like that, like it doesn’t mean anything. Like it doesn’t make my stomach flip and my heart pound stupidly.
“You really think cereal is better than a post-sex nap?” I scowl.
He leans against the counter, arms flexing, spoon twirling between his fingers.
Fuck!
“Sleep is temporary. Cereal is forever.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I roll my eyes.
“Yet, here you are, wide awake and arguing with me about cereal.” He shrugs.
That is a fair point, but I will not let him know that
“You’re impossible.” I narrow my eyes.
He grins, but there’s something softer behind it now. He pushes the bowl toward me. “Try it.”
I eye him, then the cereal. I shouldn’t. It’s stupid. But I grab the spoon anyway and take a bite.
The moment I do, Liam grins so hard, like I just proved a point. “Good, right?”
“Shut up.” I scowl.
But I take another bite.
And for a moment, we don’t say anything.
For a moment, we just exist in this weird, quiet space, eating cereal at 2am, like nothing about this is complicated. Like we didn’t just cross every possible line between us.
But then Liam shifts, exhales softly, and when I look up, his expression is different. Unguarded.
And that’s dangerous.
Because when Liam isn’t being cocky or smug, when he just is… it’s way too easy to forget why this was supposed to be a bad idea in the first place.
But…was it?
I set the spoon down and grip my water bottle again, my throat suddenly dry.
“I’m going back to bed.”
He watches me, silent for a beat, then nods. “Night, Snowflakes.”
“Night, Captain.” I swallow.
And I walk away.
Not because I want to.
But because if I stay any longer, I know I won’t leave at all.